The Secret Handshake (Luis Dubuc) is gearing up to release his sixth studio album, Night & Day August 17th, 2010 on Triple Crown Records and is currently on tour playing new songs from the upcoming release. The first single “Domino” is available today for free download via Facebook here: http://bit.ly/aBsjB1.
It is an album title that truly signposts a major sea change. Night & Day holds fast to its title’s pronouncement of seemingly polar opposites. The gripping melodies are still firmly in place, but that’s where the similarities between Dubuc’s back catalog and his latest creation end.
For the past several years, Dubuc and his fusion of sugary pop hooks, laid atop a host of samples and caked with computer-enhanced effects, created the signature electronic-pop sound that landed him the sort of success that many artists in indie circuits could only wish for.
For his latest full-length, Night & Day, Dubuc wasn’t going to resign himself to recording a similar batch of tracks once more. His influences are wide ranging, including The Temptations, Jackson 5, plus Motown-inspired hitmakers like Blood, Sweat and Tears and Tower of Power.
Recorded to tape on an original Ampex Tape Machine, Dubuc and producer Noah Shain used a three-track recorder that was popular until the mid-1960s which many famous pop recordings — including many of Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound” productions and early Motown hits — were taped on. It’s live strings, live horns, live percussion and group background singers. Live drums, bass, guitar and piano all played in the same little room at Walden Sound in LA where the album was recorded over the course of 5 weeks. No programming, no digital editing.
Dubuc describes Night & Day as, “it’s a Motown record, man.” Almost wholly influenced by the wide-ranging Motown scene of the ‘60s and ‘70s, Dubuc made a commitment upon embarking on his latest venture to discard all his previous techniques and time-tested paths, and start all over again—and it’s an idea he’s had brewing for quite a while.
“I sort of went deep into it and got to know all the artists,” said Dubuc. “I set out to make a record like that, of all good moments, that are very reminiscent of those songs, except that they’re modernized.”
The album’s first single is “Domino,” a track about Dubuc’s friends who gave up on everything in music and stopped trying to progress. “Used to be Sweet” was performed with Canadian artist Lights, whom he had met at the South By Southwest music festival. “It’s sort of like Michael Jackson’s ‘The Girl Is Mine,’ we’re arguing back and forth.” And “Fresh Start” is about, as its title implies, making a change. “For me, in that song, it’s about writing a song,” says Dubuc. “It’s a song about writing a song and starting over with this new sound.”
“I wanted to take a risk on this record, Dubuc explained. “I feel like it has the potential to really move people to make people feel good about their situations in their lives. It’s a soul record. If there’s ever an all-encompassing Motown revival record, this is it.”
TOUR DATES:
Jun 15 2010 6:00P Fubar Saint Louis, MO
Jun 16 2010 6:00P The Marquee Tulsa, OK
Jun 17 2010 6:00P Emo’s Austin Austin, TX
Jun 18 2010 6:00P Warehouse Live Houston, TX
Jun 19 2010 6:30P The Door Dallas DALLAS, TX
Jun 20 2010 6:30P Tequila Jungle Lubbock, Texas
Jun 22 2010 6:30P Martini Ranch Scottsdale, AZ
Jun 23 2010 6:30P Glasshouse Pomona, California
Jun 24 2010 6:30P Troubadour West Hollywood, CA
Jun 25 2010 6:30P Soma Sidestage San Diego, California
Jun 26 2010 6:30P Club Retro Fresno, California
Jun 27 2010 6:30P Boardwalk Orangevale, CA
Jun 28 2010 6:30P Slim’s San Francisco, CA
Jun 29 2010 6:30P Hawthorne Theatre Portland, Oregon
Jun 30 2010 5:30P El Corazon Seattle, wa
Jul 2 2010 6:00P The Complex Salt Lake City, UT
Jul 3 2010 6:30P Maquis Theatre Denver, Colorado
Jul 5 2010 6:30P Sokol Underground Omaha, NE
Jul 6 2010 6:30P Station 4 Saint Paul, MN
Jul 7 2010 6:30P Metro Chicago, IL
Jul 9 2010 6:30P New Daisy Theatre Memphis, TN
Jul 10 2010 6:30P Rockettown Nashville, TN
Jul 11 2010 6:30P New Brookland Tavern West Columbia, SC
Jul 12 2010 6:30P Jack Rabbits Jacksonville, FL
Jul 13 2010 6:30P The State Theatre Saint Petersburg, FL
Jul 14 2010 6:30P Culture Room Ft Lauderdale, FL
Jul 15 2010 6:30P The Social Orlando, FL
Jul 16 2010 6:00P The Masquerade Atlanta, GA
Jul 17 2010 6:00P The Brewery, NC Raleigh, NC
Jul 18 2010 6:30P Skate High Virginia Beach, VA
Jul 20 2010 6:30P Gramercy Theatre New York, NY
Jul 21 2010 6:30P Recher Theatre Towson, MD
Jul 22 2010 6:30P The Crazy Donkey Farmingdale, New York
Jul 23 2010 6:30P The Trocadero Theatre Philadelphia, PA
Jul 24 2010 6:30P The Palladium Worcester, MA
Jul 25 2010 6:00P Northern Lights Clifton Park, NY
Jul 26 2010 6:00P Xtreme Wheels Buffalo, NY
Jul 28 2010 6:00P Peabody’s Down Under Cleveland, OH
Jul 29 2010 6:00P The Mixtape Cafe Grand Rapids, MI
Jul 30 2010 5:00P Sneaky Dee’s Toronto, ON
Jul 31 2010 6:00P Crofoot Ballroom Detroit, MI
Aug 1 2010 4:30P Eagles Club Lake Station, IN
Aug 2 2010 6:00P The Oz Cafe Wichita, Kansas
Aug 5 2010 6:00P The Conservatory Oklahoma City, OK